On Friday, April 24, 2020 the Right to Recovery Coalition release the following statement to media following
“Today, is a tragic day for democracy and equity in Chicago. By only a slim majority, Mayor Lighfoot’s power grab has made its way through city council. The Mayor lacked an overwhelming majority for her ordinance with 21 Aldermen voting against her power overreach. Covid19 has hit the Black, Latinx and working class communities the hardest and the mayor’s ordinance fails to offer those communities the recovery they deserve.”
“Our communities need relief now, especially Black Chicagoans who are disproportionately affected by this crisis. “Check the stats… I have people dying in my ward and in communities all around me,” 20th Ward Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor said. “I don’t want to see memes, commercials, or people just talking about what needs to be done. I want to see action, I want to see democracy and I want to see the resources my people need to survive.”
“The mayor’s ordinance says nothing of her recovery plan for Chicagoans most impacted by COVID-19. In a time of exacerbated need, we are disappointed that Mayor Lightfoot denied guaranteed mortgage and rent relief for working-class Chicagoans and continues to blatantly ignore the over 80,000 people experiencing homelessness in our city. “When it comes to this mayor you have to put it in writing. And so we sought to put into writing guarantees that an equity lens would be applied to federal emergency dollars. That reasonable request was maligned, ignored, and dismissed by this mayor,” Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa said. Members of the Right to Recovery coalition, alongside elected officials, have long stood by the South and West side working-class communities; we vow to continue working for every Chicagoans’ right to recovery.
“We will continue to be a check on the Mayor’s authority. The people of Chicago want democratic and transparent government processes to ensure our tax dollars protect those on the front lines of this crisis, not corporate bottom lines. “The people of Chicago did not vote for unilateral decisions. They voted for accountability and transparency,” Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez said. We will continue to organize with our members to demand the relief the people of Chicago elected the Mayor to implement. This is not the end of the fighting and the organizing of our coalition to ensure that every Chicago family sees the relief they deserve.”
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